devsdenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: de is a preposition, den is an article, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

“de” is a preposition and “den” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1
“de” frequency rank
#19,112
“den” frequency rank
19113
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature de den
Definition estabelece uma ligação entre duas palavras, (geralmente uma relação de subordinação), podendo expressar o, artigo definido masculino do caso acusativo singular:

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set de and den apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
de
3 ch
den

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

de and den form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “de” sits inside “den” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19113, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

de is recorded at frequency rank #1, classified as aprep, pronounced /ʤɪ/; /ˈde/ (em finais de frases interrogativas, exemplo: estamos falando de?). den is at rank #19,112, tagged as anarticle, pronounced /deːn/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 19113, this pair ranks #51,711 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

de#1
den#19,112

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "de" and "den" be used interchangeably?
No, "de" and "den" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering de vs den

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “de”; for an article, it's “den”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “de” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list